Premier League’s best transfer market managers!
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Arsenal transfer news
A look at the top five managers in the Premier League at the moment based on their work in the transfer market – where does Southampton boss Ronald Koeman rank alongside Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger and Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho?
5) Mark Hughes (Stoke City)
Not everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s no denying Mark Hughes has made some great signings in his latest stint with Stoke City, including the exciting coup to bring in Bojan from Barcelona. It is largely forgotten, but the Welshman was also responsible for excellent signings such as Carlos Tevez, Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta during his time at Manchester City.
4) Alan Pardew (Crystal Palace)
A man with an eye for a bargain, particularly from France, Alan Pardew has not yet worked his magic at Crystal Palace, but unearthed some real talents that left for a profit at Newcastle United, such as Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye and Mathieu Debuchy.
3) Jose Mourinho (Chelsea)
Often blessed with huge amounts of money to spend, Jose Mourinho has brought in some terrific players for Chelsea, with Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa among the finest buys of last summer, leading directly to a very convincing Premier League title win. He misses out on a top two spot, however, as there are plenty of strange buys as well, like Filipe Luis, Juan Cuadrado and Mohamed Salah – players brought in for big money and never used. To nitpick further, he has also let some top players like Juan Mata, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku leave without bringing in particularly good replacements.
2) Arsene Wenger (Arsenal)
A man often ridiculed for his record in recent years, but it’s clear that Arsene Wenger is getting his mojo back. The Arsenal boss brought in superb signings like Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez for the last two summers and could now be close to landing Petr Cech in a brilliant deal. In the past, the Frenchman has also discovered top talents like Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie on the cheap.
1) Ronald Koeman (Southampton)
In first place based on recent work, Ronald Koeman arguably won the transfer window last summer. The incoming Southampton manager coped with amazing pressure from losing star players Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert, Calum Chambers and Dejan Lovren to rebuild a squad that arguably looked better than before. Discovering talents like Graziano Pelle and Dusan Tadic on the cheap, as well as giving Ryan Bertrand a chance to shine, the Dutchman is the ultimate moneyball manager, doing the best he can with limited funds and with big clubs ready to poach his best players at the first chance.